just came back from accountant's office who live in a trailer park in malibu. beautiful sea view and all.
he gave me and tina some pep talk about getting our shit together and perhaps i should look for a job.
we have been living on some equity which ran out and little projects i have been getting. the money is really tight right now and we might have to move out of los angeles which has gotten so fucking expensive unless you make near 6 figures a year for two people living in an okay neighborhood with two dogs.
i am now in a way thankful that we don't have any kids to worry about their schooling and other expenses. i also have this burden of paying the rent of my studio space, an additional expense of 1500$ a month which i might have to give up and start to work by renting a desk space from other people. thank god i don't smoke anymore.
i might also get freelance jobs from other architects/designers to pay my bills. the idea of working for a boss really haunts me.
oh well thanks for listening. tomorrow is another day and the telephone still might ring with somebody at the other end saying,
" money is not an object and we understand the project might take three years to develope and you will need 25k to start "
Orhan, sorry to hear of your troubles. The beauty of Archinect and importantly Thread Central is that there is always someone listening. Perhaps you could make that into a full time career - "having people listen to you"
abra on the lecture series seems like a very fun concept, and with your wit I'm sure it would nicely supplement any income.
O- hearing that sigh of defeat in your post over how difficult LA is becoming really shakes my idea of ever returning to the City of Angeles. Guess I got out when the getting was good. But to hear you - the rock of the west side, through thick and thin, the ultimate scraper and houdini with getting by- think about getting out is just earth shattering! I've always managed to land on my feet after unexpected circumstances - like getting fired from gehry's office in '95 - and making lemonade with the left over pulp, so that's how I became a slut in hollywood for all those years. Maybe you have a screenplay that you can sell? if not, better start working on one...
Orhan, diasbase is right on - a blog with a tip jar a la Suzie Bright, and get some T-shirts made up and we TCers will buy them as a fundraiser.
The guys in Cake always bitch on their website about how they still print and sell Tshirts to make income even though they are supposedly big rock stars. Like so many of us (you included, dear) they are critically acclaimed but that doesn't always mean money. Dave Hickey said "Genius doesn't starve" but I though I usually lick up every word that man says I think in this one instance he means marketing genius doesn't starve.
It sucks to think that at over 40 we still have to consider these alternate means of income but I think it's not just architects. vado and I were discussing exactly this a few days ago and I think everyone is just struggling right now - life is expensive and no one's income is keeping up with it except developers and drug companies (both the legal and the not).
Sigh.
I also think you should talk to Sci-arc or other about teaching. I'd take your class!
Here is a pic of my house - that's a pattern I designed and Brian had CNC'd out of 1/4" MDF at school. In a WWTC do query: we're considering painting the wall. Originally intended to paint it the same light cream as the rest of the house, to make it read only as a texture. Now that the raw MDF is up Im liking the contrast. That piece of art (Thomas Muller, Cranbrook grad and LA resident) will reside on the wall in either case.
DubK, illegitimi non carborundum, sweetheart. Enjoy the movie.
One vote for leaving it paint-free. I'm a big fan of the natural textures and colors of materials being allowed to show, and this looks particularly good.
n_: 4x8 MDF cut into +/- 15"x8' strips. No horizontal joints.
architechno, thanks. We had guests to dinner so the house is clean and with fresh flowers!
Also, Orhan: give up the office if you have to. It's overhead that my partner and I finally decided at this point not to have. I often wis I had an office but manage fine working at home, at his house, and at cafes when i really need to get out. $1,500/month is a huge expense, but I know you'd miss those guys at the transmission shop. Or could you sublet it?
rationalist, I also love clear-sealed MDF, but this is all full of buried nail holes and in this case they look unplanned (they were) so I have to paint it SOMEthing.
DCA, note the retired architect in the video is not such a big fan!
damn. That wasn't obvious in the picture.... and putty looks like ass on mdf. Well, if you truly must paint it, what about some subtle contrast? Pick two colors that are just a little different (like a cream and a super-light buttery yellow) and paint the strips alternately.
lb, that's a real nice wall. beautiful design and, yes, you can sell that to any place and have mass produced.
thanks for all the support and it was much needed. interestingly enough i've been seriously considering all the advise you have given me and i made a little headstart soul searching in those areas with some people with funding/hiring capacities.
i have always been a late bloomer in everything i have done but
what i have on my side is, i am never afraid of getting my ass kicked and take risks.
you guys verified some of my thoughts and actions.
i'd be surprised if anybody makes money on blogging but what do i know? i am really committed to archinect for now and i love this web site. it has opened some doors for me so far and i really like the brilliant minds around it, both in front and behind the camera.
i really feel tc is a nice part of my life and i love you guys under all kinds of weather conditions. thanks a lot.
oh man. lb, is there NO WAY to make lemonade out of nail holes? [you know what i mean.] the natural color and variation is luscious.
that cake video was brilliant. hadn't seen it, but it made me laugh out loud in the kitchen by myself.
best of luck, orhan. money sucks and is a crappy thing upon which to have to base life decisions. i'd say go with your gut, or listen to the little voice in the back of your head, or something. logic/rationality always seems to cause me to make decisions i regret.
You said the word, SBD - it didn't look too puzzly when I drew it, but the second I walked in and saw it on the wall I thought "Hm, I wonder if that looks a little too puzzly?" and then Angus walks in "Mommy, we have a puzzle wall!!" Perceptive little fucker.
Orhan if you only knew how often I've daydreamed of being able to refer you for some big project out on the left coast. If I knew ANYone in that city I'd be calling them for you. I'm with you, I'm committed to archinect and love everyone here too.
I wouldn't worry about the 'puzzle' affect, but if you do paint it, it will surely fade as such. It's the differentiating tones in the MDF that is highlighting such. Do you have a finish on the wall yet? As in a seal or stain?
nice wall. I so want my own house by the way! I went to see a bunch of houses over the weekend and was certain I would find one I loved. They are all pushing the top range of my price limit, but are precious jewels in the old urban neighborhoods, fixer-upper kind. All of them were so disappointing, one didn't even have a kitchen - there was a big empty room with a kitchen sink is all, one exterior was pink with purple trim (my husband didn't freak out like he could have!), one had a really strange paint texture that was SPIKY - it actually hurt to touch the walls, one had paint over the glass in some of the windows (not to mention the windows were usually painted shut in these older homes). The second bath in most was a shoddy homeowner stick a toilet in a closet type of bull shit. One had about a 5% slope in the floors. No wonder they were in my price range...
Holy shit! WTF? What happened? I remember a few weeks ago there was some sort of drama going down......crap I have to go into a meeting in a half hour. TK, it will be OK, I promise.....
Will relocate, but might take a little bit more time to extract self and wife from the cold north woods. The wife is willing to quit her fellowship if I need to find work in another city.
As to conspiracy theories, this is very likely linked to the firm shake up and a lull in the projects in the office. Friday they axed the first person, a really cool kenyan who was a great source of international urban wisdom for me... so there will most likely be more...
sorry to hear that b.
definetly sounds like firm shake up change leadership/owners etc.
sit back and take a breake for couple of days. what about this other firm you were contemplating last year?
look at the bright side. you started to take/have taken your license exams and made the transition from los angeles to twins. and overhead is way too manegable in comperesant to la.
ahem, if you want to come back, it would be nice to have a firebrand like you around.. good luck.
probably there will be more lay offs. and probably this was a decision that was discussed between the accountants and the owners.
"you guys have to cut the overhead."
god i hate to be the owner of a large firm with 15 employees when you have to bring in at least 75k every mounth on fees to just to keep the business rolling.
related;
i think cameron sinclair is really up to something amazing by setting up the network of architects not only in this country but world over. that model is going to be worth a lot of cash in few years when somebody is going to start to use it commercially.
like, century 21 architectects. get it?
Cameron is an inspiration for most of us. Corporate firm owners should be sh*ting in their pants for the day that open architecture network kill's their business model.
This does seem to be driven by the accountants. I've been included on most of the recent proposals/rfqs that we've produced. and I had another month at least on the current project... sometimes the penny counters can kill a firm.
tk, I'm sure you can find something else up there so you don't have to give up the fellowship. That sucks though - nothing like a job loss (especially one that has nothing to do with your performance, as I'm sure this one did not) to make you feel exceptionally fragile and precarious. With your killer energy and smarts I am certain something else will come up soon. Good luck taking that next step.
Strawbeary: Your house hunting reminds me of a guy I used to tech with (architect also). When he was looking for a house he found one in his price range but curiously priced quite lower than those in the surrounding, very desirable, neighborhood. Turns out the previous owner had died and owned scores of cats. He said he walked into the place, smelled the relentless stench of cat urine and said "Yes!! I'm home!"
We architects can see the jewel in the rough. Good luck finding the deal you love AND can afford because you have vision.
wow, waiting for models to update/load has given me a lot more archinect time lately. is this [url=http://www.archinect.com/forum/threads.php?id=56079_0_42_0_C]whatthefuck[/link] person real? does anyone know? if you just take it as entertainment, i think it's an alright thing.
ha, well did you notice halfway down i said "let's not turn this into a battle of gun laws, no one's going to agree...it's irrelevant, the fact of the matter is it is a law TODAY and lots of people died TODAY, fucking awful." but people wouldn't shut up, so i snapped, whoops.
lb- yeah that's why I'm looking at these properties because I have archi-optimism, except I would need another 30-50 grand to fix any of them, which I can't do if they are already at the top of my price range. We are now looking at houses that are more ready to live in, although not as close to the city center, and we can still make them our own. Oh, by the way, the pink one was my husband's favorite of the bunch, pink can't scare him away that easily, thank god!
On the 2nd amendment, I don't like guns. But you CAN'T take them away.
i think the whole gun conversation thing started as a joke, now there are 2 VA tech threads in competition.
onto a different subject, i've sudenly gotten really into a peanut m&m. it's very unlike me, i think. i don't like regular m&ms and i don't like peanuts. this happens to me with food a lot.
can anyone think of an srchitectural equivleant? like materials or something that you can't stand individually, but love together.
I can admit to TC that my first thought when I saw the headline was "just tell me it wasn't in the architecture building again", because I'm tired of all the architecture students going crazy. But I wasn't about to post that there, because it would be slightly less inappropriate than the gun conversation, but still probably not appreciated.
I'm designing a Peanut Butter and Chocolate house right now. Separately these two materials would not go together, but jointly they are rather affective in defining my living space.
ha, listening to NPR the just said that a research article states that the news outlets with the most informed and knowledgeable are the Daily Show and the Colbert Report followed by the NYTimes and NPR.
Wow... I don't listen to NPR that much (I prefer music on my iPod while I'm working), but I read the NY Times and watch the Daily Show and Colbert Report religiously. No wonder I'm so damn smart and well-informed.
Thread Central
just came back from accountant's office who live in a trailer park in malibu. beautiful sea view and all.
he gave me and tina some pep talk about getting our shit together and perhaps i should look for a job.
we have been living on some equity which ran out and little projects i have been getting. the money is really tight right now and we might have to move out of los angeles which has gotten so fucking expensive unless you make near 6 figures a year for two people living in an okay neighborhood with two dogs.
i am now in a way thankful that we don't have any kids to worry about their schooling and other expenses. i also have this burden of paying the rent of my studio space, an additional expense of 1500$ a month which i might have to give up and start to work by renting a desk space from other people. thank god i don't smoke anymore.
i might also get freelance jobs from other architects/designers to pay my bills. the idea of working for a boss really haunts me.
oh well thanks for listening. tomorrow is another day and the telephone still might ring with somebody at the other end saying,
" money is not an object and we understand the project might take three years to develope and you will need 25k to start "
Orhan, sorry to hear of your troubles. The beauty of Archinect and importantly Thread Central is that there is always someone listening. Perhaps you could make that into a full time career - "having people listen to you"
abra on the lecture series seems like a very fun concept, and with your wit I'm sure it would nicely supplement any income.
Dare I suggest a orhan/abracadabra blog? you have plenty of people here who are fans.
architechnophilia knows how - he features at #19 on eikonographia's most popular arch blogs.
get some advertising going, sell some stuff, get us to digg it, bingo.
My partner and I saw a doco on second life last night and are thinking of some ways to cash in on that crazy thing...
O- hearing that sigh of defeat in your post over how difficult LA is becoming really shakes my idea of ever returning to the City of Angeles. Guess I got out when the getting was good. But to hear you - the rock of the west side, through thick and thin, the ultimate scraper and houdini with getting by- think about getting out is just earth shattering! I've always managed to land on my feet after unexpected circumstances - like getting fired from gehry's office in '95 - and making lemonade with the left over pulp, so that's how I became a slut in hollywood for all those years. Maybe you have a screenplay that you can sell? if not, better start working on one...
Orhan, diasbase is right on - a blog with a tip jar a la Suzie Bright, and get some T-shirts made up and we TCers will buy them as a fundraiser.
The guys in Cake always bitch on their website about how they still print and sell Tshirts to make income even though they are supposedly big rock stars. Like so many of us (you included, dear) they are critically acclaimed but that doesn't always mean money. Dave Hickey said "Genius doesn't starve" but I though I usually lick up every word that man says I think in this one instance he means marketing genius doesn't starve.
It sucks to think that at over 40 we still have to consider these alternate means of income but I think it's not just architects. vado and I were discussing exactly this a few days ago and I think everyone is just struggling right now - life is expensive and no one's income is keeping up with it except developers and drug companies (both the legal and the not).
Sigh.
I also think you should talk to Sci-arc or other about teaching. I'd take your class!
Here is a pic of my house - that's a pattern I designed and Brian had CNC'd out of 1/4" MDF at school. In a WWTC do query: we're considering painting the wall. Originally intended to paint it the same light cream as the rest of the house, to make it read only as a texture. Now that the raw MDF is up Im liking the contrast. That piece of art (Thomas Muller, Cranbrook grad and LA resident) will reside on the wall in either case.
DubK, illegitimi non carborundum, sweetheart. Enjoy the movie.
makin lemonade out of limes always sucks.
lb- i HEART your mdf wall.
it appears to be seamless. what size are those mdf boards?
vado - here we call it limeade (and apparently it keeps away scurvy)
lb that's a stunning installation added the photograph itself looks amazing
Cake sings my theme song. My husband plays it the night before I have big meetings for encouragement :)
However, I can't say that I own said t-shirts, lb.
One vote for leaving it paint-free. I'm a big fan of the natural textures and colors of materials being allowed to show, and this looks particularly good.
n_: 4x8 MDF cut into +/- 15"x8' strips. No horizontal joints.
architechno, thanks. We had guests to dinner so the house is clean and with fresh flowers!
Also, Orhan: give up the office if you have to. It's overhead that my partner and I finally decided at this point not to have. I often wis I had an office but manage fine working at home, at his house, and at cafes when i really need to get out. $1,500/month is a huge expense, but I know you'd miss those guys at the transmission shop. Or could you sublet it?
What rationalist said. It looks pretty cool as-is.
rationalist, I also love clear-sealed MDF, but this is all full of buried nail holes and in this case they look unplanned (they were) so I have to paint it SOMEthing.
DCA, note the retired architect in the video is not such a big fan!
damn. That wasn't obvious in the picture.... and putty looks like ass on mdf. Well, if you truly must paint it, what about some subtle contrast? Pick two colors that are just a little different (like a cream and a super-light buttery yellow) and paint the strips alternately.
lb, that's a real nice wall. beautiful design and, yes, you can sell that to any place and have mass produced.
thanks for all the support and it was much needed. interestingly enough i've been seriously considering all the advise you have given me and i made a little headstart soul searching in those areas with some people with funding/hiring capacities.
i have always been a late bloomer in everything i have done but
what i have on my side is, i am never afraid of getting my ass kicked and take risks.
you guys verified some of my thoughts and actions.
i'd be surprised if anybody makes money on blogging but what do i know? i am really committed to archinect for now and i love this web site. it has opened some doors for me so far and i really like the brilliant minds around it, both in front and behind the camera.
i really feel tc is a nice part of my life and i love you guys under all kinds of weather conditions. thanks a lot.
okay my eyes have now welled up, and am sitting in front of the pc on the verge of tears. Beautiful words Abra you give us all hope
oh man. lb, is there NO WAY to make lemonade out of nail holes? [you know what i mean.] the natural color and variation is luscious.
that cake video was brilliant. hadn't seen it, but it made me laugh out loud in the kitchen by myself.
best of luck, orhan. money sucks and is a crappy thing upon which to have to base life decisions. i'd say go with your gut, or listen to the little voice in the back of your head, or something. logic/rationality always seems to cause me to make decisions i regret.
lb, your wall has inspired me to go buy a puzzle.
You said the word, SBD - it didn't look too puzzly when I drew it, but the second I walked in and saw it on the wall I thought "Hm, I wonder if that looks a little too puzzly?" and then Angus walks in "Mommy, we have a puzzle wall!!" Perceptive little fucker.
Orhan if you only knew how often I've daydreamed of being able to refer you for some big project out on the left coast. If I knew ANYone in that city I'd be calling them for you. I'm with you, I'm committed to archinect and love everyone here too.
time for a little post-rationalization, lb: you're gonna have to say you MEANT it to look like a puzzle, i think!
I wouldn't worry about the 'puzzle' affect, but if you do paint it, it will surely fade as such. It's the differentiating tones in the MDF that is highlighting such. Do you have a finish on the wall yet? As in a seal or stain?
nail holes= random acts of kindness....in a puzzle filled world.
nice wall. I so want my own house by the way! I went to see a bunch of houses over the weekend and was certain I would find one I loved. They are all pushing the top range of my price limit, but are precious jewels in the old urban neighborhoods, fixer-upper kind. All of them were so disappointing, one didn't even have a kitchen - there was a big empty room with a kitchen sink is all, one exterior was pink with purple trim (my husband didn't freak out like he could have!), one had a really strange paint texture that was SPIKY - it actually hurt to touch the walls, one had paint over the glass in some of the windows (not to mention the windows were usually painted shut in these older homes). The second bath in most was a shoddy homeowner stick a toilet in a closet type of bull shit. One had about a 5% slope in the floors. No wonder they were in my price range...
oh fuck!!!! I just got laid off!!!!!!
Only 53.5 more work days at this soul-sucking job. Not that I'm counting, mind you.
TK, YOU REALLY JUST GOT LAID OFF? ARE YOU KIDDING?
Oh shit, treekiller. Sorry to hear that.
What shitty timing on my part, given my last post. I guess I should count my blessings.
what????!!!!!
(we're hiring, care to relocate?)
Holy shit! WTF? What happened? I remember a few weeks ago there was some sort of drama going down......crap I have to go into a meeting in a half hour. TK, it will be OK, I promise.....
Will relocate, but might take a little bit more time to extract self and wife from the cold north woods. The wife is willing to quit her fellowship if I need to find work in another city.
As to conspiracy theories, this is very likely linked to the firm shake up and a lull in the projects in the office. Friday they axed the first person, a really cool kenyan who was a great source of international urban wisdom for me... so there will most likely be more...
i have, what seems an uncanny ability to kill threads...
perhaps im just not cut out for archinecting
u & me both lletdownl
treekiller - so sorry to hear about the shake up. I hope they left you with an adequate compensation package. Please keep us updated.
sorry to hear that b.
definetly sounds like firm shake up change leadership/owners etc.
sit back and take a breake for couple of days. what about this other firm you were contemplating last year?
look at the bright side. you started to take/have taken your license exams and made the transition from los angeles to twins. and overhead is way too manegable in comperesant to la.
ahem, if you want to come back, it would be nice to have a firebrand like you around.. good luck.
probably there will be more lay offs. and probably this was a decision that was discussed between the accountants and the owners.
"you guys have to cut the overhead."
god i hate to be the owner of a large firm with 15 employees when you have to bring in at least 75k every mounth on fees to just to keep the business rolling.
related;
i think cameron sinclair is really up to something amazing by setting up the network of architects not only in this country but world over. that model is going to be worth a lot of cash in few years when somebody is going to start to use it commercially.
like, century 21 architectects. get it?
Cameron is an inspiration for most of us. Corporate firm owners should be sh*ting in their pants for the day that open architecture network kill's their business model.
This does seem to be driven by the accountants. I've been included on most of the recent proposals/rfqs that we've produced. and I had another month at least on the current project... sometimes the penny counters can kill a firm.
damn tk, London firms are hiring like crazy right now. Wanna get paid $90,000?
tk, I'm sure you can find something else up there so you don't have to give up the fellowship. That sucks though - nothing like a job loss (especially one that has nothing to do with your performance, as I'm sure this one did not) to make you feel exceptionally fragile and precarious. With your killer energy and smarts I am certain something else will come up soon. Good luck taking that next step.
Strawbeary: Your house hunting reminds me of a guy I used to tech with (architect also). When he was looking for a house he found one in his price range but curiously priced quite lower than those in the surrounding, very desirable, neighborhood. Turns out the previous owner had died and owned scores of cats. He said he walked into the place, smelled the relentless stench of cat urine and said "Yes!! I'm home!"
We architects can see the jewel in the rough. Good luck finding the deal you love AND can afford because you have vision.
argh, the V-Tech thread is making me so angry, I promised I wasn't going to let them get under my skin, then I just blew up. Sorry.
wow, waiting for models to update/load has given me a lot more archinect time lately. is this [url=http://www.archinect.com/forum/threads.php?id=56079_0_42_0_C]whatthefuck[/link] person real? does anyone know? if you just take it as entertainment, i think it's an alright thing.
sbd- didnt mean for that to turn into an argument about the 2nd ammendment--- i just posted the news link.
ha, well did you notice halfway down i said "let's not turn this into a battle of gun laws, no one's going to agree...it's irrelevant, the fact of the matter is it is a law TODAY and lots of people died TODAY, fucking awful." but people wouldn't shut up, so i snapped, whoops.
lb- yeah that's why I'm looking at these properties because I have archi-optimism, except I would need another 30-50 grand to fix any of them, which I can't do if they are already at the top of my price range. We are now looking at houses that are more ready to live in, although not as close to the city center, and we can still make them our own. Oh, by the way, the pink one was my husband's favorite of the bunch, pink can't scare him away that easily, thank god!
On the 2nd amendment, I don't like guns. But you CAN'T take them away.
i think the whole gun conversation thing started as a joke, now there are 2 VA tech threads in competition.
onto a different subject, i've sudenly gotten really into a peanut m&m. it's very unlike me, i think. i don't like regular m&ms and i don't like peanuts. this happens to me with food a lot.
can anyone think of an srchitectural equivleant? like materials or something that you can't stand individually, but love together.
maybe this makes no sense
If it was a joke, it was in extremely poor taste.
I can admit to TC that my first thought when I saw the headline was "just tell me it wasn't in the architecture building again", because I'm tired of all the architecture students going crazy. But I wasn't about to post that there, because it would be slightly less inappropriate than the gun conversation, but still probably not appreciated.
I'm designing a Peanut Butter and Chocolate house right now. Separately these two materials would not go together, but jointly they are rather affective in defining my living space.
ha, listening to NPR the just said that a research article states that the news outlets with the most informed and knowledgeable are the Daily Show and the Colbert Report followed by the NYTimes and NPR.
Wow... I don't listen to NPR that much (I prefer music on my iPod while I'm working), but I read the NY Times and watch the Daily Show and Colbert Report religiously. No wonder I'm so damn smart and well-informed.
in other unfortunate news, Walmart climbed back to #1 in this years Fortune 500 list....crap..
Are they still the #1 firearm seller?
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